When someone comes up with a world’s first, it’s because it is a brilliant idea – that nobody thought of – or it’s a horrible idea that others have, and others have rejected.

Either way, Portobello Road Distillery has release what it claims is the “world’s first asparagus vodka”, made with only potato vodka, purified water, and asparagus coming from Portwood Farm in Norfolk. No surprise it will be a limited run of only 600 bottles.

“Each year, British Asparagus Season starts on St George’s Day, and inspired by everyone’s favourite youngest wine, Beaujolais Nouveau, we wanted to get this season’s asparagus distilled and into a bottle as quickly as we could,” said Portobello.  This year’s slightly warmer start to the year meant that the asparagus crop arrived earlier, so we managed to get a kick start on the harvest.  

“On St George’s Day, typically the start of asparagus season, when the steeping was finished, we ran it through our 400L Copper Pot Still, King Henry, and added purified water to bottle it at 40% ABV. No filtration, no additives, nothing else added – just pure Asparagus (and Potato) Vodka.”

According to Portobello, “the flavour of asparagus arrives early and lingers long, there is a surprising amount of sweetness, and due to the British Potato Vodkas ability to carry both flavour and texture the whole seems to coat the inside of the mouth and stimulate every inch of the tastebuds.”

The distillery did not mention if asparagusic acid would be in the drink or would be lost during production. This is the substance in asparagus which gives the distinct smell to 70 percent of asparagus eaters’ urine.

Photo: Portobello Road Distillery